It was hardly the kind of springboard into the Crosstown Shootout the University of Cincinnati wanted. The Bearcats beat Toledo 68-55 Monday night at Shoemaker Center, but it was a performance atypical of the team's previous victories.

Jamaal Davis had 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. (Craig Ruttle photos) | ZOOM |

        Cincinnati shot poorly (season-low 34.4 percent from the field, 9.1 percent from 3-point range) and lacked the sustained intensity it has had during most of its six-game winning streak — all by double digits and all at home.

        “I didn't like much,” UC coach Bob Huggins said. “I've always coached for our guys to get better, and it's hard for me to find anything that we did better tonight.

        “I thought we started out all right defensively and then all of a sudden we just stopped playing. We played very selfishly offensively ... If we play like that Friday night, it'll be a blowout.”

        The Bearcats stayed in their locker room more than 20 minutes after the game, and soon after settled in to watch film of Xavier.

Leonard Stokes led UC with 19 points to go with seven rebounds. | ZOOM |

        With the XU game looming, UC had to work harder for its victory over the Rockets than any other in the past three weeks.

        Toledo (3-4) trailed by as many as 19 points after UC opened the second half with a 14-3 run.

        The Rockets fought back and pulled within at least 10 points five times in the last 5:07. But each time, UC answered. It was 64-55 with 1:10 left, but Field Williams made two free throws for the Bearcats, then Leonard Stokes made two foul shots.

        “We can't play like this anymore this year or we're going to lose,” Stokes said. “... We get that message in here every day — just come out and play hard. We just didn't do that for whatever reason.”

        Jamaal Davis collected his third career double-double, and second of this season, with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for the Bearcats, who received the 26th-most votes in the new Associated Press top 25 rankings released Monday.

        Stokes led UC with 19 points to go with seven rebounds, and Immanuel McElroy added 14 points and seven rebounds.

Steve Logan has as many turnovers as baskets. | ZOOM |

        Donald Little did little (no points, one rebound). And senior guard Steve Logan had a rough night. He scored 15 points but was just 5-of-16 shooting. When he finally hit his only 3-pointer — with 15:19 left — he shook his head. He finished 1-of-7 from 3-point range. Logan also committed five turnovers, the most since the 19th game of his freshman season when he had five against Saint Louis.

        “It's very hard to be consistent on the floor when you're inconsistent with your life,” Huggins said. “I think we had some guys that didn't prepare.”

        “We came out basically not ready to play,” Davis said. “We've just got guys not taking care of themselves, and it's showing.”

        “We're disappointed that we didn't come up with a win,” Toledo coach Stan Joplin said. “I think we were right there. We didn't keep them off the boards, and they made some free throws. That was a big difference.”

        The Bearcats led 30-22 at halftime, the first time in six games they weren't ahead by at least 10 at intermission.

        With 1:19 left, the chant started: “We want Xav-ier.” It was predictable. It was just a matter of when. The fans probably had to wait longer than they expected.

        “We have a lot to iron out from the game today,” Davis said. “But also we have to primarily concentrate on Xavier.”

TOLEDO (55)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Milson          18   1-4   0-2   1-4  1  4    2
Shellabarger    18   1-6   1-4   3-8  0  5    3
Reynolds        36  5-14   4-4   2-6  3  4   17
Moore           39  4-10   0-0   1-3  1  2    9
Tripplett       30  4-12   3-3   0-3  1  3   12
Kirsh            8   1-1   0-0   3-5  0  3    2
Patterson       21   3-6   0-0   0-2  1  1    6
Clement          9   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Thomas          21   2-6   0-1   2-7  3  4    4
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-60  8-14 12-38 10 27   55
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.350, FT-.571. 3-Point Goals:
5-20, .250 (Reynolds 3-9, Moore 1-4, Tripplett
1-4, Patterson 0-2, Clement 0-1). Team rebounds:
5. Blocked shots: 1 (Patterson). Turnovers: 18
(Thomas 5, Moore 4, Milson 3, Reynolds 2,
Shellabarger 2, Clement, Tripplett). Steals: 4
(Tripplett 3, Patterson).


CINCINNATI (68)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           26   3-9   9-9  5-13  1  3   15
Mcelroy         37  7-13   0-1   4-7  1  2   14
Little          10   0-2   0-0   0-1  0  1    0
Stokes          37  6-13   7-8   3-7  0  1   19
Logan           34  5-16   4-6   0-2  4  0   15
Williams        15   0-2   2-2   0-0  0  0    2
Lucas            2   0-0   1-2   0-1  0  0    1
Flowers          1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Crawford        18   0-1   2-3   2-4  0  5    2
Hubbard          3   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Maxiell         17   0-5   0-0   1-3  0  4    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-61 25-31 15-38  6 17   68
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.344, FT-.806. 3-Point Goals:
1-11, .091 (Mcelroy 0-1, Stokes 0-1, Logan 1-7,
Williams 0-2). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 4
(Maxiell 2, Mcelroy, Williams). Turnovers: 11
(Logan 5, Davis 2, Stokes 2, Mcelroy, Williams).
Steals: 4 (Mcelroy 2, Logan, Stokes).
__________________________________
Toledo             22   33  -   55
Cincinnati         30   38  -   68
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 10,212.

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